Animal Welfare Professionals

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

is this wrap similar to Sophia Yin's towel wrapping techniques?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Dr. Yin's towel wraps are great for temporarily handling cats at the vet and for cats that are already somewhat compliant. What makes my "Superman Towel Wrap" unique is that it allows you to restrain even the most fearful and aggressive cats in one swift motion without having to wrap them up completely and then you can continue holding them with just one hand. And what makes my towel wrap so effective is that by pinching the ends of the towel together under their chin, you're also pinning down their front legs, making it very difficult for them to get their legs out and scratch (the downfall of most kitty burritoes) plus by having your hand underneath their chin, it prevents them from biting. When used in conjunction with my Bundle & Bond technique it's also great for socialization. Lastly, this towel wrap allows for easy access to the rest of their body if needed for exams, giving fluids, or injections, etc. I have lots of videos on how to do this on my website, you should check it out!

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2026 06:35 AM
From: amelia nusbaum
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

is this wrap similar to Sophia Yin's towel wrapping techniques?

------------------------------
amelia nusbaum
Shelter Manager
TX

Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2026 02:59 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#EducationandTraining

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL
------------------------------

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

------------------------------
Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 07:07 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 05:05 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

------------------------------
Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2026 02:59 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#EducationandTraining

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL
------------------------------

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Yes! I do the same here at the shelter and it has absolutely worked out for fearful cats. Will it work from one day to the next? No. It requires patience, ability to read feline body language and again, lots of patience! 

I agree that the shelters she worked with perhaps may not have adequate training in cat handling and may need additional resources in that department to slowly bring fearful cats out of their shell. 

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

You mentioned that this approach might be "decent" for medical handling but not appropriate for socialization, yet in another comment, you described it as "flooding." Those two positions contradict each other. If the technique were truly flooding, it would not be appropriate for medical handling either. More importantly, this temporary and gentle restraint does result in a rapid decrease in stress and fear.

These methods are not meant to replace low‑stress options like pheromones, hides, treats, or gentle in‑kennel interaction. Those are all great tools, and they work well for many cats. The cats I work with are the ones who do not respond to those approaches, who are unsafe to handle in the kennel, or who remain at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication.

Gentle towel restraint is not new in veterinary medicine, but applying it intentionally as a socialization tool for fearful shelter cats is. New approaches often feel unfamiliar or intimidating, especially for staff who aren't used to handling aggressive or shut‑down cats. But when you watch the videos: Chorizo, Ink, Azure, and many others, you see immediate, positive behavioral change that simply doesn't happen with in‑kennel methods for these particular cats. The kennel itself is inherently stressful so I prefer not to socialize with cats in their kennel, which is why I advocate for transporting them into a calmer, more neutral space like an enrichment room.

Unfortunately, many of the shelters I work with face significant limitations in time, staffing, and resources, which makes it very difficult for them to implement consistent, timely intervention for their more fearful cats. On top of that, internal politics often influence what changes can realistically be made. Despite my best efforts to help update and strengthen their cat‑behavior programs so cats don't deteriorate to the point where they need more intentional socialization, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of reluctance to adopt new practices. If you'd ever like hands‑on support, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process in person. Seeing the techniques applied makes everything much clearer and helps people understand why the cats respond so quickly.

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

My thought process for saying it may be decent for getting accustomed to vet handling was using your towel wrapping technique and some gentling, paired with immediate availability of high value rewards like treats for a short duration of time (no more than 5-10 minutes) and ideally after the cat has already had some lower stress tactics applied previously.

I'm definitely not trying to attack or devalue the research and work that you have done, so I apologize if it has come off that way. I'm very lucky in that I've been able to put a lot of focus towards improving cat behavior work within my own shelter and have not had to struggle with getting others on board with the changes that I have implemented, and I am constantly sharing what has worked so that others can implement what they are able. I've taken every course I can get my hands on specifically cat behavior, including courses during college, and I've worked hands on with cats from every background you can think of for several years now.

For cats that are FAS 4-5 we typically try things like catnip or pheromone sprays, extendable back scratchers and gentle petting sessions with those until they allow us to use our hands, providing dens or curtains for several hiding options, wand toys, moving them to a larger space where they cannot see or smell other cats, and paired with that we may offer medication like gabapentin or zylkene. I've even had some cats that will be hissing, swatting, lunging, attempting to bite, and then they get a taste of churu or roll around in the catnip I sprinkled in, and they have turned around in literally minutes. I also enjoy using cat specific music made by David Teie which has worked really well with shutdown cats. We also have an enrichment plus "program" where cats enrolled receive enrichment 3 times a day (all other cats get enrichment twice) with at least one of those times being tailored to the specific cat. Sometimes, especially with shutdown cats, if they are not choosing to leave their hiding space on their own, I have on occasion removed them from their hiding space, or removed the acrylic side of a den or roof of a plastic cat house if they have it, and try petting but still allowing them the choice to move away from me and I have found success in that as well. Typically I see a turn around after about 3-5 days of using these techniques but sometimes it takes longer. Many times with cats that are at those higher FAS levels, I get them to a point where they may still be highly fearful but are tolerating handling enough where they could get spayed or handled for a microchip and rabies vaccine, and then continue to work with them while they are available for adoption and so often they get into homes and significantly improve in that space.

I have a bunch of questions about when you were working with these shelters, just out of plain curiosity. When you tried advocating at those shelters for more training or adopting new practices, what kind of pushback were they responding with/what were their reasons for being reluctant to implement? Do you know if these shelters are doing fear free training? Were they all in Florida or in several different states? What type of shelters were these, public/gov funded, private with a gov contract, fully private, or a mix of these?

You mentioned that this approach might be "decent" for medical handling but not appropriate for socialization, yet in another comment, you described it as "flooding." Those two positions contradict each other. If the technique were truly flooding, it would not be appropriate for medical handling either. More importantly, this temporary and gentle restraint does result in a rapid decrease in stress and fear.

These methods are not meant to replace low‑stress options like pheromones, hides, treats, or gentle in‑kennel interaction. Those are all great tools, and they work well for many cats. The cats I work with are the ones who do not respond to those approaches, who are unsafe to handle in the kennel, or who remain at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication.

Gentle towel restraint is not new in veterinary medicine, but applying it intentionally as a socialization tool for fearful shelter cats is. New approaches often feel unfamiliar or intimidating, especially for staff who aren't used to handling aggressive or shut‑down cats. But when you watch the videos: Chorizo, Ink, Azure, and many others, you see immediate, positive behavioral change that simply doesn't happen with in‑kennel methods for these particular cats. The kennel itself is inherently stressful so I prefer not to socialize with cats in their kennel, which is why I advocate for transporting them into a calmer, more neutral space like an enrichment room.

Unfortunately, many of the shelters I work with face significant limitations in time, staffing, and resources, which makes it very difficult for them to implement consistent, timely intervention for their more fearful cats. On top of that, internal politics often influence what changes can realistically be made. Despite my best efforts to help update and strengthen their cat‑behavior programs so cats don't deteriorate to the point where they need more intentional socialization, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of reluctance to adopt new practices. If you'd ever like hands‑on support, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process in person. Seeing the techniques applied makes everything much clearer and helps people understand why the cats respond so quickly.

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

My thought process for saying it may be decent for getting accustomed to vet handling was using your towel wrapping technique and some gentling, paired with immediate availability of high value rewards like treats for a short duration of time (no more than 5-10 minutes) and ideally after the cat has already had some lower stress tactics applied previously.

I'm definitely not trying to attack or devalue the research and work that you have done, so I apologize if it has come off that way. I'm very lucky in that I've been able to put a lot of focus towards improving cat behavior work within my own shelter and have not had to struggle with getting others on board with the changes that I have implemented, and I am constantly sharing what has worked so that others can implement what they are able. I've taken every course I can get my hands on specifically cat behavior, including courses during college, and I've worked hands on with cats from every background you can think of for several years now.

For cats that are FAS 4-5 we typically try things like catnip or pheromone sprays, extendable back scratchers and gentle petting sessions with those until they allow us to use our hands, providing dens or curtains for several hiding options, wand toys, moving them to a larger space where they cannot see or smell other cats, and paired with that we may offer medication like gabapentin or zylkene. I've even had some cats that will be hissing, swatting, lunging, attempting to bite, and then they get a taste of churu or roll around in the catnip I sprinkled in, and they have turned around in literally minutes. I also enjoy using cat specific music made by David Teie which has worked really well with shutdown cats. We also have an enrichment plus "program" where cats enrolled receive enrichment 3 times a day (all other cats get enrichment twice) with at least one of those times being tailored to the specific cat. Sometimes, especially with shutdown cats, if they are not choosing to leave their hiding space on their own, I have on occasion removed them from their hiding space, or removed the acrylic side of a den or roof of a plastic cat house if they have it, and try petting but still allowing them the choice to move away from me and I have found success in that as well. Typically I see a turn around after about 3-5 days of using these techniques but sometimes it takes longer. Many times with cats that are at those higher FAS levels, I get them to a point where they may still be highly fearful but are tolerating handling enough where they could get spayed or handled for a microchip and rabies vaccine, and then continue to work with them while they are available for adoption and so often they get into homes and significantly improve in that space.

I have a bunch of questions about when you were working with these shelters, just out of plain curiosity. When you tried advocating at those shelters for more training or adopting new practices, what kind of pushback were they responding with/what were their reasons for being reluctant to implement? Do you know if these shelters are doing fear free training? Were they all in Florida or in several different states? What type of shelters were these, public/gov funded, private with a gov contract, fully private, or a mix of these?

You mentioned that this approach might be "decent" for medical handling but not appropriate for socialization, yet in another comment, you described it as "flooding." Those two positions contradict each other. If the technique were truly flooding, it would not be appropriate for medical handling either. More importantly, this temporary and gentle restraint does result in a rapid decrease in stress and fear.

These methods are not meant to replace low‑stress options like pheromones, hides, treats, or gentle in‑kennel interaction. Those are all great tools, and they work well for many cats. The cats I work with are the ones who do not respond to those approaches, who are unsafe to handle in the kennel, or who remain at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication.

Gentle towel restraint is not new in veterinary medicine, but applying it intentionally as a socialization tool for fearful shelter cats is. New approaches often feel unfamiliar or intimidating, especially for staff who aren't used to handling aggressive or shut‑down cats. But when you watch the videos: Chorizo, Ink, Azure, and many others, you see immediate, positive behavioral change that simply doesn't happen with in‑kennel methods for these particular cats. The kennel itself is inherently stressful so I prefer not to socialize with cats in their kennel, which is why I advocate for transporting them into a calmer, more neutral space like an enrichment room.

Unfortunately, many of the shelters I work with face significant limitations in time, staffing, and resources, which makes it very difficult for them to implement consistent, timely intervention for their more fearful cats. On top of that, internal politics often influence what changes can realistically be made. Despite my best efforts to help update and strengthen their cat‑behavior programs so cats don't deteriorate to the point where they need more intentional socialization, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of reluctance to adopt new practices. If you'd ever like hands‑on support, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process in person. Seeing the techniques applied makes everything much clearer and helps people understand why the cats respond so quickly.

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

To answer your questions about shelters I've worked with,  

I can share some general patterns I've seen, though I don't want to provide details that would identify specific shelters. In my experience, the reluctance usually stems from a combination of structural and cultural factors rather than bad intentions.

• Many behavior and welfare programs are heavily dog‑focused. Even when shelters have a behavior department, the leadership and training are often centered around dogs. As a result, the people making decisions may not have a strong enough understanding of feline behavior to recognize why investing time and training in fearful cats is necessary, especially when they're simultaneously overwhelmed with large‑breed dogs.

• Staffing and training limitations play a major role. A lot of shelters simply don't have enough staff, or the staff they do have haven't been trained in safe, confident cat handling. When someone is uncomfortable working with a fearful or potentially defensive cat, they understandably avoid interacting with them. And because a bite hold can significantly extend a cat's length of stay, many staff are hesitant to attempt anything beyond basic care.

• Most of the shelters I've worked with are municipal or municipal‑contracted. These organizations often face the greatest constraints, high intake, limited budgets, high turnover, and layers of administrative oversight. Internal politics can make it difficult to introduce new practices, even when the need is obvious.

Lastly,  much of my work has been volunteer‑driven, and because I'm not a veterinarian (yet) or coming in under a formal institutional title, some people are quick to dismiss what I'm offering before they've actually seen the results. All of these factors create an environment where cats with higher FAS levels don't receive timely intervention, not because people don't care, but because the system isn't set up to support it. That's exactly the gap my work is trying to address.

My thought process for saying it may be decent for getting accustomed to vet handling was using your towel wrapping technique and some gentling, paired with immediate availability of high value rewards like treats for a short duration of time (no more than 5-10 minutes) and ideally after the cat has already had some lower stress tactics applied previously.

I'm definitely not trying to attack or devalue the research and work that you have done, so I apologize if it has come off that way. I'm very lucky in that I've been able to put a lot of focus towards improving cat behavior work within my own shelter and have not had to struggle with getting others on board with the changes that I have implemented, and I am constantly sharing what has worked so that others can implement what they are able. I've taken every course I can get my hands on specifically cat behavior, including courses during college, and I've worked hands on with cats from every background you can think of for several years now.

For cats that are FAS 4-5 we typically try things like catnip or pheromone sprays, extendable back scratchers and gentle petting sessions with those until they allow us to use our hands, providing dens or curtains for several hiding options, wand toys, moving them to a larger space where they cannot see or smell other cats, and paired with that we may offer medication like gabapentin or zylkene. I've even had some cats that will be hissing, swatting, lunging, attempting to bite, and then they get a taste of churu or roll around in the catnip I sprinkled in, and they have turned around in literally minutes. I also enjoy using cat specific music made by David Teie which has worked really well with shutdown cats. We also have an enrichment plus "program" where cats enrolled receive enrichment 3 times a day (all other cats get enrichment twice) with at least one of those times being tailored to the specific cat. Sometimes, especially with shutdown cats, if they are not choosing to leave their hiding space on their own, I have on occasion removed them from their hiding space, or removed the acrylic side of a den or roof of a plastic cat house if they have it, and try petting but still allowing them the choice to move away from me and I have found success in that as well. Typically I see a turn around after about 3-5 days of using these techniques but sometimes it takes longer. Many times with cats that are at those higher FAS levels, I get them to a point where they may still be highly fearful but are tolerating handling enough where they could get spayed or handled for a microchip and rabies vaccine, and then continue to work with them while they are available for adoption and so often they get into homes and significantly improve in that space.

I have a bunch of questions about when you were working with these shelters, just out of plain curiosity. When you tried advocating at those shelters for more training or adopting new practices, what kind of pushback were they responding with/what were their reasons for being reluctant to implement? Do you know if these shelters are doing fear free training? Were they all in Florida or in several different states? What type of shelters were these, public/gov funded, private with a gov contract, fully private, or a mix of these?

You mentioned that this approach might be "decent" for medical handling but not appropriate for socialization, yet in another comment, you described it as "flooding." Those two positions contradict each other. If the technique were truly flooding, it would not be appropriate for medical handling either. More importantly, this temporary and gentle restraint does result in a rapid decrease in stress and fear.

These methods are not meant to replace low‑stress options like pheromones, hides, treats, or gentle in‑kennel interaction. Those are all great tools, and they work well for many cats. The cats I work with are the ones who do not respond to those approaches, who are unsafe to handle in the kennel, or who remain at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication.

Gentle towel restraint is not new in veterinary medicine, but applying it intentionally as a socialization tool for fearful shelter cats is. New approaches often feel unfamiliar or intimidating, especially for staff who aren't used to handling aggressive or shut‑down cats. But when you watch the videos: Chorizo, Ink, Azure, and many others, you see immediate, positive behavioral change that simply doesn't happen with in‑kennel methods for these particular cats. The kennel itself is inherently stressful so I prefer not to socialize with cats in their kennel, which is why I advocate for transporting them into a calmer, more neutral space like an enrichment room.

Unfortunately, many of the shelters I work with face significant limitations in time, staffing, and resources, which makes it very difficult for them to implement consistent, timely intervention for their more fearful cats. On top of that, internal politics often influence what changes can realistically be made. Despite my best efforts to help update and strengthen their cat‑behavior programs so cats don't deteriorate to the point where they need more intentional socialization, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of reluctance to adopt new practices. If you'd ever like hands‑on support, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process in person. Seeing the techniques applied makes everything much clearer and helps people understand why the cats respond so quickly.

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

I agree with so much of this, I highly doubt there's any bad intentions behind being reluctant to try new strategies, and I really appreciate everything that has been discussed in this thread already. It astounds me how heavily focused so many shelters, including my own, are with dogs, and to be fair it's not even just the shelters that are more focused on dogs. Research in clinics and homes and available learning opportunities have all been dog focused for a large part of history and only recently has there been a shift towards learning about cats. I mean, my shelter has been operating for nearly 151 years now and only 3 years ago did we start a community cat and working cat program, and 2 years ago we added a cat behavior position to our already long established behavior department. And over the last 2 years I have been doing all I can to continue to improve our cat welfare and behavior work. We are a private shelter with a stray government contract so I totally understand the struggle of high intake, it can be really difficult during the summer especially to accomplish everything we want to just because the actual cleaning takes so long when we are full. And while we currently have the staff to support all of this, there have been many times when many people are out or we have open positions after people leave that haven't been filled yet, and it just sucks to not have the sheer number of people needed to support this kind of work. 

Something our shelter, and I'm sure many others, do for our dogs is have them rated as greens, yellows, and reds for our volunteer dog walkers to get trained on handling and walking at the different behavior levels. Obviously we don't walk the cats daily like dogs do but we don't have any formalized behavior rating scale that volunteers can train on for interacting and socializing. I've been working on developing a training for volunteers for some time now and I have some people at my shelter on board with the idea and I already know some volunteers who are basically foaming at the mouth to be able to do more targeted behavior work. As soon as I have that finished and figured out I'm hoping to share it here on the forum and hopefully other shelters can adapt it to their use as well so that maybe we don't see as many shelters struggling with cat behavior like you've experienced at the one's you've worked with, at the very least it's somewhere to start. Just having a couple volunteers willing to spend the time with specific cats while staff are able to focus on the 10000 other things required of them can be HUGE and I'm sure they all are grateful for you spending your time with them. I hope your veterinary journey goes well, we don't have nearly enough shelter vets in this world if that is what you decide to specialize in.

To answer your questions about shelters I've worked with,  

I can share some general patterns I've seen, though I don't want to provide details that would identify specific shelters. In my experience, the reluctance usually stems from a combination of structural and cultural factors rather than bad intentions.

• Many behavior and welfare programs are heavily dog‑focused. Even when shelters have a behavior department, the leadership and training are often centered around dogs. As a result, the people making decisions may not have a strong enough understanding of feline behavior to recognize why investing time and training in fearful cats is necessary, especially when they're simultaneously overwhelmed with large‑breed dogs.

• Staffing and training limitations play a major role. A lot of shelters simply don't have enough staff, or the staff they do have haven't been trained in safe, confident cat handling. When someone is uncomfortable working with a fearful or potentially defensive cat, they understandably avoid interacting with them. And because a bite hold can significantly extend a cat's length of stay, many staff are hesitant to attempt anything beyond basic care.

• Most of the shelters I've worked with are municipal or municipal‑contracted. These organizations often face the greatest constraints, high intake, limited budgets, high turnover, and layers of administrative oversight. Internal politics can make it difficult to introduce new practices, even when the need is obvious.

Lastly,  much of my work has been volunteer‑driven, and because I'm not a veterinarian (yet) or coming in under a formal institutional title, some people are quick to dismiss what I'm offering before they've actually seen the results. All of these factors create an environment where cats with higher FAS levels don't receive timely intervention, not because people don't care, but because the system isn't set up to support it. That's exactly the gap my work is trying to address.

My thought process for saying it may be decent for getting accustomed to vet handling was using your towel wrapping technique and some gentling, paired with immediate availability of high value rewards like treats for a short duration of time (no more than 5-10 minutes) and ideally after the cat has already had some lower stress tactics applied previously.

I'm definitely not trying to attack or devalue the research and work that you have done, so I apologize if it has come off that way. I'm very lucky in that I've been able to put a lot of focus towards improving cat behavior work within my own shelter and have not had to struggle with getting others on board with the changes that I have implemented, and I am constantly sharing what has worked so that others can implement what they are able. I've taken every course I can get my hands on specifically cat behavior, including courses during college, and I've worked hands on with cats from every background you can think of for several years now.

For cats that are FAS 4-5 we typically try things like catnip or pheromone sprays, extendable back scratchers and gentle petting sessions with those until they allow us to use our hands, providing dens or curtains for several hiding options, wand toys, moving them to a larger space where they cannot see or smell other cats, and paired with that we may offer medication like gabapentin or zylkene. I've even had some cats that will be hissing, swatting, lunging, attempting to bite, and then they get a taste of churu or roll around in the catnip I sprinkled in, and they have turned around in literally minutes. I also enjoy using cat specific music made by David Teie which has worked really well with shutdown cats. We also have an enrichment plus "program" where cats enrolled receive enrichment 3 times a day (all other cats get enrichment twice) with at least one of those times being tailored to the specific cat. Sometimes, especially with shutdown cats, if they are not choosing to leave their hiding space on their own, I have on occasion removed them from their hiding space, or removed the acrylic side of a den or roof of a plastic cat house if they have it, and try petting but still allowing them the choice to move away from me and I have found success in that as well. Typically I see a turn around after about 3-5 days of using these techniques but sometimes it takes longer. Many times with cats that are at those higher FAS levels, I get them to a point where they may still be highly fearful but are tolerating handling enough where they could get spayed or handled for a microchip and rabies vaccine, and then continue to work with them while they are available for adoption and so often they get into homes and significantly improve in that space.

I have a bunch of questions about when you were working with these shelters, just out of plain curiosity. When you tried advocating at those shelters for more training or adopting new practices, what kind of pushback were they responding with/what were their reasons for being reluctant to implement? Do you know if these shelters are doing fear free training? Were they all in Florida or in several different states? What type of shelters were these, public/gov funded, private with a gov contract, fully private, or a mix of these?

You mentioned that this approach might be "decent" for medical handling but not appropriate for socialization, yet in another comment, you described it as "flooding." Those two positions contradict each other. If the technique were truly flooding, it would not be appropriate for medical handling either. More importantly, this temporary and gentle restraint does result in a rapid decrease in stress and fear.

These methods are not meant to replace low‑stress options like pheromones, hides, treats, or gentle in‑kennel interaction. Those are all great tools, and they work well for many cats. The cats I work with are the ones who do not respond to those approaches, who are unsafe to handle in the kennel, or who remain at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication.

Gentle towel restraint is not new in veterinary medicine, but applying it intentionally as a socialization tool for fearful shelter cats is. New approaches often feel unfamiliar or intimidating, especially for staff who aren't used to handling aggressive or shut‑down cats. But when you watch the videos: Chorizo, Ink, Azure, and many others, you see immediate, positive behavioral change that simply doesn't happen with in‑kennel methods for these particular cats. The kennel itself is inherently stressful so I prefer not to socialize with cats in their kennel, which is why I advocate for transporting them into a calmer, more neutral space like an enrichment room.

Unfortunately, many of the shelters I work with face significant limitations in time, staffing, and resources, which makes it very difficult for them to implement consistent, timely intervention for their more fearful cats. On top of that, internal politics often influence what changes can realistically be made. Despite my best efforts to help update and strengthen their cat‑behavior programs so cats don't deteriorate to the point where they need more intentional socialization, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of reluctance to adopt new practices. If you'd ever like hands‑on support, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process in person. Seeing the techniques applied makes everything much clearer and helps people understand why the cats respond so quickly.

Thank you. I definitely think this may be a decent approach for getting a cat used to some medical handling/restraint but as a general socialization technique I am weary. Not only that but if shelters don't have the staff/support to do less invasive techniques then they likely don't have the staff/support to do this technique either. I feel that using tools like pheromone sprays (zenifel is my favorite and the same price as feliway), extendable back scratchers (we call them tiny hands at our shelter), high value treats after cleaning, and gentle TLC without removing the choice to leave for the cat (as just a few examples) are all effective, less invasive, and less time consuming and much easier to implement within a shelter. If possible, moving cats to quieter rooms with various choices of hiding or visibility is extremely effective but otherwise having hides and curtains on the kennels have also shown positive impacts. I would love to get in contact with some of the shelters she worked with and see if they want help or suggestions for how to implement these on a more regular basis so that these cats are getting worked with sooner rather than not touched for weeks on end like Berlin was describing.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Jacklyn Ellis is very big on consent and considerate approach when it comes to feline behavior modification though. I feel like this Bundle & Bond removes both of these important elements from the equation. Being bundled up and forced to interact eliminates every kind of choice that the cat may have which Ellis advocates for. I agree it would be interesting to hear her views on something like this. I would also agree with another comment that asks if there is any follow up regarding the behavior of these cats once they are in the home.

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Before I respond to the other comments, I do want to revisit my original question: How long do your socialization techniques typically take to produce meaningful improvement in mild–moderate FAS cats, and what does your process look like for cats in the severe (4–5) range? Understanding your timeline and approach will help clarify where our methods differ.

In my experience, the cats I've been able to follow post‑adoption are thriving, including previously "feral" ones who were adopted into homes after I socialized with them. A home environment is ultimately what they need. Just as we see with fractious cats at the vet, you can socialize and use low-stress techniques with these cats as best you can but the stress of the shelter is often the primary barrier to normal behavior. This is especially true for owner‑surrendered cats, who we know were previously socialized and are typically surrendered for human‑related reasons, not behavioral ones. Of course, any transition into a new environment is stressful at first, which is why I also provide adoption counseling and detailed guidelines on my website to support that adjustment.

I strongly encourage you to read through my website thoroughly, as many of your questions are addressed there. And if you watch the videos, you'll see that even with my Bundle & Bond techniques, fearful cats show rapid improvement with gentle towel restraint.

The next time you're working with a cat showing mild to moderate FAS, I'd encourage you to bring them into a quiet, secure room for a brief session and follow the steps in my socialization flowchart. As you'll see on my site, my training videos also help guide you through the process.  When done properly, I can almost guarantee positive results. Keeping an open mind to new approaches is often what allows us to help the cats who fall through the cracks of traditional methods.

Jacklyn Ellis is very big on consent and considerate approach when it comes to feline behavior modification though. I feel like this Bundle & Bond removes both of these important elements from the equation. Being bundled up and forced to interact eliminates every kind of choice that the cat may have which Ellis advocates for. I agree it would be interesting to hear her views on something like this. I would also agree with another comment that asks if there is any follow up regarding the behavior of these cats once they are in the home.

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Before I respond to the other comments, I do want to revisit my original question: How long do your socialization techniques typically take to produce meaningful improvement in mild–moderate FAS cats, and what does your process look like for cats in the severe (4–5) range? Understanding your timeline and approach will help clarify where our methods differ.

In my experience, the cats I've been able to follow post‑adoption are thriving, including previously "feral" ones who were adopted into homes after I socialized with them. A home environment is ultimately what they need. Just as we see with fractious cats at the vet, you can socialize and use low-stress techniques with these cats as best you can but the stress of the shelter is often the primary barrier to normal behavior. This is especially true for owner‑surrendered cats, who we know were previously socialized and are typically surrendered for human‑related reasons, not behavioral ones. Of course, any transition into a new environment is stressful at first, which is why I also provide adoption counseling and detailed guidelines on my website to support that adjustment.

I strongly encourage you to read through my website thoroughly, as many of your questions are addressed there. And if you watch the videos, you'll see that even with my Bundle & Bond techniques, fearful cats show rapid improvement with gentle towel restraint.

The next time you're working with a cat showing mild to moderate FAS, I'd encourage you to bring them into a quiet, secure room for a brief session and follow the steps in my socialization flowchart. As you'll see on my site, my training videos also help guide you through the process.  When done properly, I can almost guarantee positive results. Keeping an open mind to new approaches is often what allows us to help the cats who fall through the cracks of traditional methods.

Jacklyn Ellis is very big on consent and considerate approach when it comes to feline behavior modification though. I feel like this Bundle & Bond removes both of these important elements from the equation. Being bundled up and forced to interact eliminates every kind of choice that the cat may have which Ellis advocates for. I agree it would be interesting to hear her views on something like this. I would also agree with another comment that asks if there is any follow up regarding the behavior of these cats once they are in the home.

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

Hi Berlin,

Our process for building trust and modifying a fearful/undersocialized cat's behaviour takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. For some cats with high FAS they'll take a bit longer. The key for us has been quiet rooms, predictable interactions, and routine, anxiety-reducing medication. low-stress handling (if needed for meds, etc) and by following Bailey Eagan's behaviour modification plan General 2 - Bailey H Eagan

We've had thousands of cats come through our organization from different living conditions and with different life experiences, and we've had huge success. This is our process for all of our 32 shelters, and it helps a lot of cats, even the ones showing aggressive behaviours, because they're so scared. We really try to help them cope and adapt to the new environment. 

------------------------------
Kim Monteith

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:47 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Before I respond to the other comments, I do want to revisit my original question: How long do your socialization techniques typically take to produce meaningful improvement in mild–moderate FAS cats, and what does your process look like for cats in the severe (4–5) range? Understanding your timeline and approach will help clarify where our methods differ.

In my experience, the cats I've been able to follow post‑adoption are thriving, including previously "feral" ones who were adopted into homes after I socialized with them. A home environment is ultimately what they need. Just as we see with fractious cats at the vet, you can socialize and use low-stress techniques with these cats as best you can but the stress of the shelter is often the primary barrier to normal behavior. This is especially true for owner‑surrendered cats, who we know were previously socialized and are typically surrendered for human‑related reasons, not behavioral ones. Of course, any transition into a new environment is stressful at first, which is why I also provide adoption counseling and detailed guidelines on my website to support that adjustment.

I strongly encourage you to read through my website thoroughly, as many of your questions are addressed there. And if you watch the videos, you'll see that even with my Bundle & Bond techniques, fearful cats show rapid improvement with gentle towel restraint.

The next time you're working with a cat showing mild to moderate FAS, I'd encourage you to bring them into a quiet, secure room for a brief session and follow the steps in my socialization flowchart. As you'll see on my site, my training videos also help guide you through the process.  When done properly, I can almost guarantee positive results. Keeping an open mind to new approaches is often what allows us to help the cats who fall through the cracks of traditional methods.

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:22 AM
From: ADRIANA DELGADO
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Jacklyn Ellis is very big on consent and considerate approach when it comes to feline behavior modification though. I feel like this Bundle & Bond removes both of these important elements from the equation. Being bundled up and forced to interact eliminates every kind of choice that the cat may have which Ellis advocates for. I agree it would be interesting to hear her views on something like this. I would also agree with another comment that asks if there is any follow up regarding the behavior of these cats once they are in the home.

------------------------------
ADRIANA DELGADO
Animal Care Coordinator
Palm Beach County Animal care and Control
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:11 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

------------------------------
Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 06:52 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 06:40 AM
From: Bryan Langlois
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

------------------------------
Bryan Langlois
Medical Director
Spay/Neuter Save Network
PA
"Greatness is a title never to be self imposed"

Original Message:
Sent: 03-01-2026 03:08 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-01-2026 06:35 AM
From: ADRIANA DELGADO
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

------------------------------
ADRIANA DELGADO
Animal Care Coordinator
Palm Beach County Animal care and Control
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 09:08 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

------------------------------
Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 07:07 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 05:05 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

------------------------------
Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2026 02:59 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#EducationandTraining

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL
------------------------------

@Kim Monteith @ADRIANA DELGADO 

Thank you for taking the time to answer my earlier question. I appreciate you sharing more about your process and the timeline you typically see with FAS 4–5 cats. I agree that working with these cats is challenging, and it absolutely takes skill, confidence, and practice to handle them safely. I also understand why many shelters choose a slower, desensitization‑based approach, especially when trust has been damaged, and the environment itself is stressful.

Where our approaches differ is in how long we believe a cat should remain in that high‑FAS state before receiving meaningful intervention. From the cat's perspective, 2–3 weeks of sitting in a kennel in a state of fear, shutdown, or defensiveness is not neutral time; it's prolonged distress with no end in sight. I would argue that allowing a highly fearful cat to remain in their kennel for days or weeks, waiting for them to "come out on their own," is its own form of flooding, as these cats didn't "consent" to being put in a small, confined space any more than they "consent" to being handled. The longer they remain in that state, the harder it can be to help them. That's the gap my techniques are designed to address.

With the Bundle & Bond method and my other handling techniques, even the most severe FAS cats I've worked with have shown measurable improvement within a single session. In one session, they are able to experience positive human touch again, display lower levels of fear, and begin to relax in ways that simply don't happen inside the kennel. Some cats show a complete transformation within minutes, others also show improvement in the enrichment room but may return to barrier‑reactive behavior once back in the kennel, similar to what we see in barrier‑reactive dogs. But even in those cases, they still received a moment of relief and connection instead of days of uninterrupted fear.

Out of all of the owner-surrendered cats I've worked with, only 2 required the Bundle & Bond technique because of how flighty they were. Even still, they responded quickly to gentle handling in a quiet room because they have been socialized before, they're simply overwhelmed by the shelter environment.

I understand the concern about triggering "compliance by fear," but what I see consistently is the opposite. Once the cat is in a quiet, secure room and held in a way that prevents escape panic, their bodies soften, their breathing slows, and they begin to seek contact, again, within just minutes. The brief stress of being moved or gently wrapped is far outweighed by the rapid reduction in fear that follows. For many of these cats, waiting weeks for them to "come around" prolongs their suffering when they could be feeling safe and recovering from stress within minutes. I also try to look at these situations from this perspective: "what would I want for my own cat (or dog) if he ended up in a shelter?" My cat Benny would be absolutely terrified in that environment, and I wouldn't want someone to wait weeks for him to "come around" on his own. I would want someone to take him into a quiet room, sit with him, and show him right away that he was safe, cared for, and loved. That's the same compassion and urgency I try to extend to the fearful cats I work with, and time and time again it has proven to be effective. I highly encourage you to watch some of the videos on my website that demonstrate these techniques and you'll see how quickly my techniques work. Some good examples are: "Removing a Feral Cat from her Kennel" on my Handling Techniques page,  "Chorizo" in my Mission page,  and "Azure" in my Case Studies.

TheSpicyCatProject.com

I respect that different shelters have different philosophies and capacities, and I'm glad your approach works well in your environment. My goal is simply to offer an alternative for the cats who are not improving in a timely manner, or who are deteriorating, under traditional timelines.

------------------------------
Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 11:07 AM
From: Kim Monteith
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Hi Berlin,

Our process for building trust and modifying a fearful/undersocialized cat's behaviour takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. For some cats with high FAS they'll take a bit longer. The key for us has been quiet rooms, predictable interactions, and routine, anxiety-reducing medication. low-stress handling (if needed for meds, etc) and by following Bailey Eagan's behaviour modification plan General 2 - Bailey H Eagan

We've had thousands of cats come through our organization from different living conditions and with different life experiences, and we've had huge success. This is our process for all of our 32 shelters, and it helps a lot of cats, even the ones showing aggressive behaviours, because they're so scared. We really try to help them cope and adapt to the new environment. 

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Kim Monteith

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:47 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Before I respond to the other comments, I do want to revisit my original question: How long do your socialization techniques typically take to produce meaningful improvement in mild–moderate FAS cats, and what does your process look like for cats in the severe (4–5) range? Understanding your timeline and approach will help clarify where our methods differ.

In my experience, the cats I've been able to follow post‑adoption are thriving, including previously "feral" ones who were adopted into homes after I socialized with them. A home environment is ultimately what they need. Just as we see with fractious cats at the vet, you can socialize and use low-stress techniques with these cats as best you can but the stress of the shelter is often the primary barrier to normal behavior. This is especially true for owner‑surrendered cats, who we know were previously socialized and are typically surrendered for human‑related reasons, not behavioral ones. Of course, any transition into a new environment is stressful at first, which is why I also provide adoption counseling and detailed guidelines on my website to support that adjustment.

I strongly encourage you to read through my website thoroughly, as many of your questions are addressed there. And if you watch the videos, you'll see that even with my Bundle & Bond techniques, fearful cats show rapid improvement with gentle towel restraint.

The next time you're working with a cat showing mild to moderate FAS, I'd encourage you to bring them into a quiet, secure room for a brief session and follow the steps in my socialization flowchart. As you'll see on my site, my training videos also help guide you through the process.  When done properly, I can almost guarantee positive results. Keeping an open mind to new approaches is often what allows us to help the cats who fall through the cracks of traditional methods.

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Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:22 AM
From: ADRIANA DELGADO
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Jacklyn Ellis is very big on consent and considerate approach when it comes to feline behavior modification though. I feel like this Bundle & Bond removes both of these important elements from the equation. Being bundled up and forced to interact eliminates every kind of choice that the cat may have which Ellis advocates for. I agree it would be interesting to hear her views on something like this. I would also agree with another comment that asks if there is any follow up regarding the behavior of these cats once they are in the home.

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ADRIANA DELGADO
Animal Care Coordinator
Palm Beach County Animal care and Control
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 09:11 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

@Jacklyn Ellis is a board certified cat behaviorist and specifically does a lot of work and research with shelter cat behavior. I know she does a decent amount of outreach about cat behavior, I got to meet her at the Best Friend's conference last year were she had a presentation about ordinal rating scales for cat behavior and she recently had a Maddie's Fund presentation about it (https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/maddies-insights-webcast-november-14-2024-beyond-doing-better-using-behavior-data-to-monitor-well-being-in-cats). She may be a good resource to try and reach out to about your research and get her thoughts.

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Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 06:52 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Thank you for your input. I have not, and the few board-certified behaviorists that I am familiar with are primarily dog-focused. But if you have any contacts, I would love to share my project with them, as I believe it has the potential to change the way we view and handle fearful and aggressive cats. 

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Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2026 06:40 AM
From: Bryan Langlois
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Very interesting thread and information.  I had looked over your website and some really good information there as well.  Being a 2nd year vet student, and having done a lot of work at UF with your masters, have you shown these ideas or gone over them with a Boarded Veterinary Behaviorist there?  If you have, how did they feel about the techniques and effects of them?  

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Bryan Langlois
Medical Director
Spay/Neuter Save Network
PA
"Greatness is a title never to be self imposed"

Original Message:
Sent: 03-01-2026 03:08 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I really do appreciate that your priority is the cats' welfare, because that's mine as well. I'm wondering if you've had a chance to watch any of the videos on my site, especially the session with Chorizo. It's difficult to understand how these techniques work without seeing them, especially if you aren't experienced with handling severely fearful and aggressive cats, and the videos show that the cats become relaxed, social, and engaged within minutes. That rapid decrease in fear is the opposite of what we would expect to see with flooding, which relies on prolonged exposure and escalating panic.

 I'm also wondering what your guys' process is for managing an extremely aggressive cat that swats and lunges at people when in-kennel socialization is attempted? And how long does it typically take for them to come around? Again, not mildly fearful cats, I mean 4-5/5 FAS.

 As someone who has conducted years of research with the most fearful, aggressive, and/or feral cats, I can tell you I have a keen sense of their body language, and I have yet to see other socialization techniques work as quickly and as positively as mine. I've consistently seen that gentle towel restraint is something they respond to extremely well. Again, these methods are specifically for cats who were unsafe to handle in their kennels, unresponsive to in‑kennel socialization, or sitting at a 5/5 FAS score despite medication. Leaving them in that state for days or weeks while waiting for them to "come around" often results in prolonged, severe stress, and I don't believe that is humane.

The towel wrap functions very similarly to how we use a leash with fearful dogs, it prevents escape long enough for us to offer reassurance and begin building trust. The restraint is brief, gentle, and controlled, and the cats' behavior changes almost immediately. In fact, I've never had a cat regress with these techniques, even with repeated sessions. They continue to improve, which is very different from what we see with flooding.

The shelters and clinics that actually witness my sessions in person are consistently surprised by how quickly the cats settle and how positive the outcomes are. If you have a moment, I'd really encourage you to watch the videos of Chorizo or Ink,  they're good examples of how these cats respond once they're moved into a quiet room and given structured support.

I'm always open to thoughtful discussion about welfare, and I'm glad you raised your concerns. I think seeing the process visually will give you a much clearer picture of what's actually happening and why these cats progress so quickly.

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Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-01-2026 06:35 AM
From: ADRIANA DELGADO
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

I completely agree with you Lauren.

It seems to me that this is a way around flooding by attempting "gentle restraint," which does not work on fearful cats. Eventually, they will comply because they have no other choice and their ability to consent has been taken away from them. To me, this should be attempted perhaps in shelter clinics for processing as a way to keep staff safe from potential biting and scratching, but this is not an effective solution, in my opinion, to expose them to people or other environments.

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ADRIANA DELGADO
Animal Care Coordinator
Palm Beach County Animal care and Control
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 09:08 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

I was reading through the case studies on your website and one that stuck out to me was the cat Juniper where you stated that for four sessions she was defecating on herself during the petting session and didn't show improvement until the fifth session. Just because you know that what you're doing is intended to be positive, the cat may not see it that way and clearly the cat had high FAS for those four sessions, so I am struggling to see how, in at least this case, this is not still flooding. I agree that getting them into a calmer space is beneficial but I think implementing other socialization tools that are less invasive would be more beneficial and build more trust. From my own experience working with similar cats you can get very similar results in similar or even shorter time frames without the towel restraint and just spending time with them in their kennel or after they are moved to a quieter space.

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Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 07:07 AM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

Flooding involves prolonged exposure to an overwhelming stimulus until an animal "shuts down," and it's well‑documented to create significant stress, panic, and regression. What I'm doing with these cats is quite the opposite. When I remove a fearful cat from a kennel using a towel wrap, their stress consistently decreases within minutes because the interaction that follows is calm, quiet, and predictably positive. I've never seen the regression or increased fear that is characteristic of flooding.

Think of it like how shelters routinely leash and remove terrified or barrier‑reactive dogs from their kennels. We do this because we know that getting them out, engaging with them, and providing positive experiences is essential for their welfare, even though the initial step is something the dog wouldn't choose on their own. No one considers that process "flooding," because the goal is not "emotional shutdown," the goal is to facilitate socialization and reduce stress. These cats are experiencing that same type of "barrier reactivity" because they are simply terrified at the shelter.

Cats obviously don't get leashed, and because they use litter boxes, unfortunately for them, it has given everyone the "easy way out" because now they have no reason to ever need to remove these cats from their kennels. This has led to a pattern of learned helplessness in shelters; the cats who most need human interaction often receive the least. By gently and safely removing them from the kennel, our equivalent of "leashing" a dog, we can finally give them the positive human contact they desperately need to reduce fear, anxiety, and aggression. They cannot build confidence in isolation any more than a fearful dog can leash and walk itself. In general, few people know how to or feel comfortable physically handling an aggressive cat safely and humanely, so it's much easier to "leave these cats alone" than it is to work with them and socialize them.

In a shelter environment, a bite or scratch can mean euthanasia. These handling techniques allow us to work with these cats safely, humanely, and effectively, so they have a chance at a positive outcome. My website includes extensive videos and case studies showing how consistently these methods reduce stress in the cats I work with, even in feral cats, which I work with on a regular basis. If the approach were traumatic, it simply wouldn't work across such a wide range of cats. Cats are not dogs, and our handling methods must reflect that, but avoiding them entirely or simply throwing meds at them is not a welfare‑based strategy. 

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Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2026 05:05 AM
From: Laurel Wilton (She/Her)
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

How is this different than flooding, which I thought was advised against for adult cats?

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Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society

Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2026 02:59 PM
From: Berlin Waters
Subject: The New Way to Manage Aggressive Shelter Cats

The Bundle & Bond is a fast-track socialization method that I developed to socialize cats of any temperament, especially those who are fearful, aggressive, and even feral. This involves my innovative towel wrapping technique called The Superman (because you wrap it like a cape), paired with positive interactions (aka love and pets). Done properly, these techniques are effective nearly every time. This type of socialization is the best form of "behavior modification." The Bundle & Bond is great for fearful and aggressive shelter cats, fosters, and newly adopted cats fearful in their new home. Learn more at TheSpicyCatProject.com

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#EducationandTraining

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Berlin Waters
Vet Student
University of Florida
FL
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